Keeping Track of Your Kids

Finding Loved Ones 

“It’s 10 PM. Do you know where your children are?” The question posed by this old TV announcement can now be answered more easily than before, thanks to personal GPS tracking devices created for kids.

The idea behind the trend comes from parents concerned about the whereabouts of their children. They want to see all their kids’ location and movements, even in real time. The fear of kidnapping by child predators has some parents scared and very vigilant. Parents may also want to track their teen to make sure they are being safe and staying in designated areas.

Homing Signals

To meet these needs, manufacturers have developed a variety of GPS units designed specifically for kids. Small children can use an bracelet attached to their wrist, or phone-like device that can fit in a bag. Older students can carry small golf ball-sized units in a pocket or backpack.

Parents appreciate the ability to trace their kids’ routes. Some GPS devices issue automatic text alerts every few minutes to a smartphone or computer. Other apps let adults see kids’ steps and actions in real time. Many adults have indicated that the updated system makes them feel more secure and knowledgeable as a parent.

Although to some it may seem intrusive to track children, the system does help parents make sure their children walk and arrive safely at the bus step and even step onto the correct bus. After all, there are a few dozen buses to choose from! Parents can also see when and where older students entered and left their friends’ vehicles on the way home. Devices can be programmed with set boundaries. For example, when a teen leaves the boundaries, the parent will know and can choose an appropriate action.

Tracking Down a Problem

Of course, no system is foolproof. The devices could be tampered with or simply taken out of the pocket and left in one location to give a false report. So, the GPS signal could give correct location, but not necessarily the location of its owner.

Critics claim that personal GPS devices invade the privacy of teens who need to form an identity. The devices could falsely make parents feel safe. They could also reinforce upon children their parents’ fears of the outside world. These fears can easily extend to the actions of the teen and show lack of trust for the child to make any responsible decisions or actions.

Google+
Keeping Track of Your Kids

GPS Provides a Smoother Bus Ride Experience

Waiting Time

Everyone hates to wait in line, especially a line for a late bus. Instead of going about your work, you’re stuck wasting time. If you had only known the bus were going to be late, then you could have planned your day better.

Tracking Time 

Several cities are trying to resolve that problem by offering riders a GPS tracking system for their buses. For example, the city of Saskatoon, Alberta recently equipped its buses to accommodate integration with GPS technology.The GPS software tracks buses as they leave the station and travel to their destinations. The GPS receiver connects with the signal from the satellites and then transmits it to a data-enabled wireless device, such as a smartphone or tablet.

On their phone screens, potential riders track the routes of the buses as they progress throughout the city. Throughout that time, riders receive updates on selected buses. If there is a delay because of traffic, then the system is automatically updated, and riders can prepare for the delay. As a bus nears the stop, riders are prepared to board.

Tracking Changes

This new arrangement could help promote use of public transportation, as residents would be able to count on accurate timetables and arrivals. Additionally, people could avoid waiting in line by walking to the next stop or taking another route.

Public transportation officials have also indicated that GPS patterns could be used to create more efficient routes that transport workers to their jobs faster and save costs for taxpayers.

Several universities have also implemented similar programs. As with the Saskatoon system, students can track the status of the campus buses via smartphone. This allows them to avoid being late to class by planning another route, or biking or walking instead. The security of the passengers presents another benefit of tracking buses in real time: women report feeling safer waiting inside than outside in the dark in an empty bus stop.

Waiting No More

So the days of standing in the rain with other grumbling passengers waiting for the bus may be nearing an end. Instead, you could be safe inside by yourself at a coffee shop. All you would need to catch the bus as it arrives would be to open your phone and tap your finger.

Google+
GPS Provides a Smoother Bus Ride Experience

Technology, Including GPS, Leads To Trouble For Michigan Man

A note to criminals: you’d better watch what you tweet while on bail. Otherwise, you might end up in even bigger trouble!

Tevin Bilal Clay, a 20-year old man from Flint, Michigan was arrested on charges he robbed a pharmacy in Burton. How was he nabbed? A GPS tracking device led the authorities directly to him. And another form of technology led to a second arrest after initially posting bail: Twitter.

GPS Device Brings Initial Arrest

According to the complaint initially filed in Flint US District Court, Clay robbed a Rite Aid pharmacy in Burton on April 11 just before 10 pm. He and another man were arrested thanks to the GPS tracking device hidden in with the money, leading the cops directly to their location only minutes after they fled the scene.

Clay was released on a $50,000 unsecured bond on April 17 by Magistrate Michael J. Hluchaniuk. The typical terms of any bail conditions: you must not flee the area. On June 18, the magistrate revoked the bond following an incident that took place June 3 where Clay was shot while at his father’s home. Clay lied to police about the shooting.

Twitter Turns Him In

So how were authorities able to ascertain he was lying? It seems federal authorities reviewed several tweets peppered with expletives in the days after the shooting, and they proved the statement initially given to police was false and that his intention was to flee the area prior to trial on the robbery charges.

Oh, and GPS technology had a role in this second arrest as well: he was part of a federal location monitoring program, and an officer was alerted he had left the home during unauthorized hours. His bond called for “strict lock-down” house arrest. His father claimed he was at the hospital following a shooting, and officers met with him there for more details.

The Tweets

Clay claimed he hadn’t seen the person responsible or the vehicle they were driving after being shot in the leg and the back of the knee. However, a tweet revealed the following: “I swear I looked at the gun spark when the second bullet hit me…I seen the car that the shot came from.”

In another tweet, Clay admits to lying to officers about the shooting: “Told the hook I didn’t see (expletive), just know wen it’s that time im coming.” Yet another tweet shows his intentions to flee, according to court documents: “Police Tryna Chase Me Im Jump The (expletive) Fence.”

His trial is set for July 22, and for some reason he has pleaded not guilty. However, with all of the evidence gathered by GPS device and recorded for the world on Twitter, it’s difficult to understand this plea whatsoever.

Google+
Technology, Including GPS, Leads To Trouble For Michigan Man

Saskatoon, Canada: GPS Comes To Two Express Bus Routes

Two express bus routes running from southeastern suburban Saskatoon to the downtown area and University of Saskatchewan are getting GPS location devices fitted, the first two buses in the city to feature them, after both the city council and finance committee approved installing GPS devices in the city’s 120-bus fleet.

Jamie Robison, access transit manager for the city, told the committee, “You can see exactly where the bus is, if it is late — all that.”

The Future

While GPS devices were installed as part of a pilot program last year, the future holds much more for the bus routes in the city. In a year, the city council has approved smartphone apps to be implemented in order for riders to receive real-time data as to the location of the buses in the fleet.

For now, the buses fitted with the GPS tracking devices appear on a map of Saskatoon online. It shows staff at transit headquarters if a bus happens to be behind or ahead of schedule. Staff relies on touch screen consoles to view the route map and timer.

Route Overhaul

The system will grant the public access to the location data of the buses being tracked via website and eventual mobile app, which is expected to be ready after bus routes are redesigned over the summer.

The redesign provides two new routes, created to shorten the longest routes in the city. “Right now [the longest] route can take 50 minutes,” said Saskatoon’s utility services manager Jeff Jorgenson. “We are looking to keep it under 30.”

The hope of the department after implementing this new system: to attract new riders. Councilors said that Transit should work harder advertising the altered routes and GPS location technology to make this happen. Ideally, it should all be introduced at once to be truly effective.

“You are going to be successful if you give customers what they want: reduced travel times and convenience. Simply telling them you got this route isn’t going to work. You have to tie all these things together,” said Councilor Darren Hill.

Saskatoon, Canada: GPS Comes To Two Express Bus Routes

Researchers Develop New GPS Data Collection Program

The program is called the Environmental-Data Automated Track Annotation (Env-DATA). In addition to collecting GPS tracking data, the program also records weather and terrain information to provide a more whole sense of the subject’s environment. The program was used by a team researching the migration habits of Galapagos Albatross, which revealed vital information, and is currently being used to monitor great egrets in North Carolina.  

“This is a powerful tool for understanding how weather and land forms affect migration patterns,” explained Dr. Roland Kays, co-founder of the program and zoologist at North Carolina State University and the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences. “Ultimately it will help us answer global questions about how changes to our planet affect animal populations and movement.”

The data collection system is a big improvement for wildlife tracking studies. As opposed to recording the locations of various wildlife, the team can take into consideration how the animals relate to the weather and landscapes along their path. Considering all this information can also reveal interesting theories as to why animals choose the habitats and migration paths they do. For example, in the Galapagos Albatross study, the Env-DATA system showed that the birds migrate from the Galapagos Islands to the Peruvian coast. The environmental data showed that the birds migrated in a clockwise direction, taking advantage of tailwinds along the way.  

In addition to providing more than just the data from GPS devices, the Env-DATA program also automatically compiles the findings. What would normally take graduate students hours to record and analyze, is now done with a simple click of a button. The program is available to the public and it’s design is simple enough for an amateur to conduct his or her own study.

Researchers Develop New GPS Data Collection Program

Researchers Track Cattle Grazing with GPS Technology In U.K. National Park

Cattle are being released into the remote College Valley inside the U.K.’s Northumberland National Park. Adam Waugh, a local farmer, is teaming up with agricultural researchers from Newcastle University to study his herd of native Luing cattle. The research is being funded by the Sir James Knott Trust, Cheviot Futures and College Valley Estate, and facilitated by Northumberland National Park Authority.

The cattle will be released onto the Cheviot site to find their own shelter, grass to graze and water sources. The team will be monitoring the cows with GPS tracking devices from a remote location. The devices give researchers an advantage of not requiring visual contact with the animals in order to observe them. This is especially advantageous during the night and bad weather.

“The results from this cattle tracking work will be linked to information on vegetation and wildlife distribution and abundance. This will help us gain a better understanding of how the cattle grazing influences the important habitats in the Cheviots and the wildlife they support. In future we hope to extent the work to tracking sheep as well as cattle,” said Mary Gough, Farming Advisor for Northumberland National Park Authority.  

Cheviot Futures Project Officer, Tracy Hall, added, “This innovative take on recording livestock movement and activity in the Cheviot HIlls will offer a valuable insight into the behavior of new livestock introduced to an upland environment. In particular, the way the cattle use the grazing area available to them, and how they behave in different weather conditions will provide information relevant to livestock producers seeking to make efforts to increase their resilience to the effects of climate change.”

“The GPS collars will provide us with precise locations of the cattle while they roam the area. This information will then give us a unique insight into how the cattle use the available area and how they affect the local biodiversity,” explained Dr. Richard Bevan from Newcastle University. 

Researchers Track Cattle Grazing with GPS Technology In U.K. National Park

Free Field Trip App Helps You Find The Fun

Google recently released a new free app for iOS and Android smartphone users. It’s the perfect app for summer fun and exploration. The app is called “Field Trip” and provides users with fun and interesting things to do nearby. It uses GPS technology built-in to the smartphones to access information about what attractions are close by.  

After the app is downloaded, it connects to the built-in GPS location data to determine the user’s current location. Activities and attractions range from restaurants, shops, movies and architecture, to local history and obscure events. Users can choose which type of attractions are most appealing and control how many notifications appear. Destination suggestions are displayed on little cards that pop up on your screen. Audio notifications are also an option. The only real complaint so far from reviewers is that the GPS app has a tendency to freeze up and shut down.

As part of a campaign to attract more users to the free app, Google teamed up with several museums in New York City to offer one free admission for each user. During the month of July, New Yorkers and/or tourists exploring New York could flash the Field Trip app to any one of the participating museums and get a free admission pass. Participating museums included the Museum of Arts and Design, the Museum of the City of New York, New York Aquarium, Queens Zoo, Bronx Zoo, Prospect Park Zoo and Central Park Zoo.

Currently the participating cities are expanding and include major U.S. cities. New York obviously has plenty of locations and attractions to point you towards. Other cities Field Trip can help you explore include Los Angeles; San Francisco; Washington, D.C.; Chicago, Reno, NV; Seatle; and Portland, OR. Internationally, there is a growing list of 80 countries and 30 languages available to choose from.

Free Field Trip App Helps You Find The Fun